THE

NOVEMBER, 2014

STURBRIDGETIMES
THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE AREA LIVING

MAGAZINE

BOOKREVIEW
Crude Carrier

By Rex Burns
MysteriousPress.com/
Open Road, 2014
Paperback, 271 pages
List: $14.99 Amazon: $11.45

Ex-professor pens mysteries

akin to Raymond Chandlers

REVIEWED BY RICHARD MORCHOE

ames Raiford is a tough guy, but he is not a

tough guy. This is not a contradiction. To
explain, in the genre of detective and mystery
novels, there is the hard-bitten private eye in the
mold of a Philip Marlowe as made famous by
Raymond Chandler.
Marlowe and his ilk are hardened, cynical,
mostly solitary men. Raifords toughness is different. He is affable and his partner is his
daughter. Working with your children, even
grown ones, takes never-ending patience (it
works both ways). For all that, he is not an easy
man to kill.
His partner in sleuthing, Julie Campbell, the
aforementioned offspring, is equally difficult to
do away with. Again, a character tough, but not
hard-bitten. Together, James and Julie are the
protagonists of Rex Burns high seas and international adventure, Crude Carrier.
Their Touchstone Agency is based in Denver.
It is not a city with the detective story rep that
LA has. Of course, it is now known as the Mile
High City for more reasons than altitude, if
youve been following the news.

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The story begins with the death of a young

ships officer. Though there is no apparent evidence of foul play, his mom and dad are not inclined to accept that with good sportsmanship.
Touchstone has a fine reputation. Even though it
is not close to the sea, the family of Third Mate
Rossi contacts the agency.
Raiford and daughter were put off by the
young mans contract. The document was little
more than a blank form. This might be something to work with and they take the case. There
are obvious drawbacks, burial at sea will not allow
for forensic evidence.
Samuel Johnson said Every man thinks
meanly of himself for not having been a soldier,
or not having been at sea. There may have been
something in that as, James; a landlubber if there
ever was one, decides going shipboard on the
huge tanker is the way to crack the case.
Raiford has electronics and IT experience so a
job as Electronics Officer is a cover to go aboard
and sniff around. Julie does not think it a good
idea. Shes right. By going solo on a ship, he will
be breaking the cardinal rule of undercover

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work.to always have a backup

and to always have a way out.
Thats in fact two rules, but weve all
taken some literary license along the
way.
Julie may not be alone on a ship,
but she too will be cavalier about
safety. The New York City detective firm of a Mr. Bertram Herberling had contacted Touchstone. A
maritime insurance firm had engaged Herberling. A ship the insurer had covered sank and they
had questions. The same company
that owned the boat Rossi had died
on owned the lost vessel.
Not long after, Bert is murdered.
Odds of a coincidence are not good
and Julie is off to New York and
then London to investigate as an aspiring old salt heads to an ocean adventure.

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The Aurora Victorius, as

Raiford quickly discovers, is not the
Good Ship Lollipop. The captain
may be an expert at his craft, but
is not much of a leader. The first
mate, Pressler, does most of the
day-to-day bullying of the crew.
There is a caste system on
board. The Chinese crewmembers are not at the top of the pyramid. When Raiford saves the life
of one of the mainly Taiwanese
complement, he may not become
a made man in the Asian Mafia,
but he does win support that will
come in handy.
Meanwhile, in New York and
then London, Julie is following up
with the insurance underwriter, the
cargo agent and Hercules Maritime, the owner of the two boats.
Part of that job is avoiding death,

as it is obvious she is getting close to

the truth.
Without thinking, Julie exposes
dad as Touchstones man on the
ship. Now staying alive will be his
onboard task. If he can do that, his
troubles are over. One of the lower
staff has given him the goods on
Rossis fate and other skullduggery.
Julie realizes her mistake and sets
to make it right. She continues the
gumshoe work of following leads as
the plot races to a dnouement on
land and sea.
Crude Carrier has a good plot,
but as a bonus, the author provides
a picture of life aboard the type of
behemoth floating craft that brings
us what we count on at the gas station.
Attention to detail is what one
would expect from someone with

an academic background. Rex

Burns is a retired U of Colorado
at Denver professor. One might
not think a pedagogue would
make a good mystery writer. The
ex-marine, however, has had a long
post-pedantic life. From an interview, it appears he approaches his
research with gusto.
I liked the research into sea
transport and into the dangerous,
and often ill-rewarded, life of
members of the international merchant marine. Having sailed
aboard several large vessels, both
combat and commercial, I wanted
to re-create the feel and atmosphere of shipboard life.
And, he does, just without the
seasickness.

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